Leaving
by Kodabearluver
Summary: Before I even start explaining, this is revolving around Sami's character. Nothing with Tris, Four, Al. Just Sami. The End. K? When young Samantha, or Sami, Hardy realizes she can't handle the stress of her family anymore, she packs up and heads out. Will she be able to survive in her new home? Just letting you all know, I don't own any of these characters except Cypress and Sami.
1. You Really Thought You Could Get Away?

Alrighty! First story on . Now, I don't own Frank or Joe Hardy, but I do own Cypress and Sami. So yeah. Enjoy!

Sami's POV

"Joe! What is going on downstairs!" I yelled. All I could hear was muffled yells and a few scattered banging noises. It just sounded like an argument over who cooks. Nothing horrible. As I walked downstairs, what they were saying became much clearer. Cypress and Frank were arguing. I stayed halfway up the stairs so I could listen in unnoticed.

"You little son of a bitch, why don't you just listen to me?!" Frank yelled.

"You know that you're insulting yourself by calling me a son of a bitch, right?" Cypress retorted.

"Oh, really?" Frank said sarcastically. "Well then I guess I'm not related to you anymore."

"What the hell?! You can't just NOT be my brother anymore!"

"Well you still have Joe to save your sorry little ass when you get kidnapped," Frank snapped. I couldn't stand to hear them argue. I ran down the rest of the stairs and in between their argument.

"Guys! Stop argu-" I didn't say three words before Frank slapped me to the ground. I just lay there, confused. Why was he like this? "F-f-frank…" I stuttered. Cypress broke her eye contact with Frank to look down at me for a split second. Her eyes filled with horror.

"Frank, what did you do?" She breathed. I got up and shook my head at Frank. Bolting back upstairs, I slammed my bedroom door shut behind me. I flopped down onto the bottom bunk, crying into my pillow for two reasons. My face stung, and our family was being torn apart. Ever since dad started taking on more cased we weren't allowed to help with, things have been pretty tense between all four of us.

Joe knocked lightly on the door and poked his head in my room. "May I come in?" I lifted my head off the pillow and nodded. He walked over towards me and sat down on my bed. He rubbed my back absent mindedly, though it made me calm down. "Look… I know Frank hasn't been himself lately. I don't even know why." He said, combing a loose brown curl back behind my ear. "I'm sure he's sorry… Just don't do anything to irrational before taking that into consideration, alright?"

"Yeah, sure…" I sighed. I lightly brushed my cheek with my hand. "But he slapped me,"

"I know he did. Please, just trust me and give him a chance. He's been under stress lately. With dad being gone, he expects Frank to watch you, me and Cypress all at once."

"And we all know how hard it is to contain a Hardy," I laughed.

"See? Already laughing again. I knew you'd understand," Joe smiled. He wrapped his arms around me in a comforting hug that made me feel safe. He let go and got up off my bunk bed.

"I'll be down in a bit… I just… I just need some time alone." I said.

"Alright. I just knew you'd be okay." Joe said. He walked out the door and downstairs. I couldn't help but start crying again. Not out of pain, but at the thought of leaving Joe. I had put a lot of thought into it, and I really wanted to run away. I was only 16, but I knew I would be able to get somewhere in life. I really didn't want to leave any of it because I knew that I would miss it all. But because of dad taking more cases, and Frank being too stressed out all the time, I wasn't quite sure if I would be able to handle it. Making up my mind had been the hardest thing in my life. I had been contemplating leaving for months, and this was the last straw. I was leaving.

I pulled out my teal carry on suitcase and a plastic bag for basic needs like deodorant and toothbrush and toothpaste and brush. I ran across the hallway quickly and grabbed the few things that would fit in the quart sized plastic bag and ran back across the hall. I walked over to my closet and pulled out two pairs of jeans, a pair of sweatpants and four t-shirts. As I laid them down in my suitcase, I noticed that my hands were shaking. And it wasn't like a faint tremble, they were actually shaking. I didn't know how I was going to get out of Bayport, but I had to somehow. I wasn't going to stay in New Jersey. If I did, they would find me no problem. I was going to stay hidden as long as possible.

"Sami! Are you okay?" I heard Frank yell from downstairs. I opened my mouth to yell something back, but all that came out was a whimper. I cleared my throat a bit.

"Yes, I'm fine." My own voice sounded alien-like to me. It was shaky and very uncertain. Completely unlike my usual tone which was strong and confident, and for a girl, suprisingly masculine sounding to a lot of people. I guess if you knew me I sounded like a girl. "I'll be down in a minute..."

"Okay... Dinner is ready."

I sighed and pulled out my backpack. I shoved a sketchpad, some of my colored pencils, a sharpener, a few books and a few other notebooks for who knew what. I packed my computer and tablet so I could doodle until my computer died, and plugged in my iPod so that it could have a full charge when I left in the dead of night the next day. I set a pair of headphones on top of my iPod so I wouldn't forget them and headed downstairs, but not before putting my suitcase and backpack neatly away in my closet.

As I walked downstairs, I could hear Frank, Joe and Cypress talking. I didn't bother waiting to finish coming down the steps, I just walked right in on their conversation.

"i'm just surprised she hasn't-" Frank stopped talking. "Oh, hey. Would you mind eating dinner with us?" I looked at him, trying not to let the sadness that had overcome me show in my eyes. I nodded and sat down. Chicken, mashed potatoes and peas. Frank sure did know how to make me feel better, even if it was through food. I smiled at Frank.

"I'm sorry I slapped you... It was an accident and it was in the spur of the moment. I promise I didn't mean to." Frank said guiltily. I felt bad making him feel that way.

"It's alright..." I choked, poking at my food. I wasn't hungry, despite the fact that what Frank had cooked was my favorite meal.

"Are you not hungry, Sami?" Joe asked, giving me a worried glance. I looked up from my food. I nodded slightly and stared at my plate.

"I'm not hungry... Can I just go upstairs?" I asked. Frank and Joe stared at me. Not waiting for a response, I left my plate where it was and trudged upstairs. I couldn't believe I was going to risk leaving all of what I had, but what would I rather have? Freedom, or fighting?

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	2. Leaving At Last

Sami's P.O.V.

It was nearly four o'clock in the morning when I finally decided to head out. I fumbled for the light switch to my bedside lamp and managed to turn it on. I jumped out of my bunk and hauled my suitcase and backpack out of the closet. Grabbing my iPod and headphones and shoving them into my pocket, I quietly turned off the light and opened the door, hoping that nothing would wake anyone up. It was quiet, and it made me uneasy. I was never up this early. It all just seemed so foreign to me. I walked swiftly down the staircase, picking up my suitcase. I unlocked the door and didn't bother taking my house key with me. As I stepped outside, I felt a breeze whip against my bare skin. I shivered and quickly ran back upstairs to grab a jacket. I shut the door behind me one last time and sighed.

I looked up into the night sky. It was a dark and deep navy blue, almost black, sprinkled with some little immobile fireflies. I looked back at my house one last time, hoping that that would be the last time I saw it in ages. I pulled up the handle to my suitcase and started walking. I was going to try and get to the nearest process plant that shipped out fruit to different states by train so I could hop on one to New York. The nearest plant couldn't be too far away, so I just out past the park and all of that, and then even further out past the storage complex, and I stumbled upon it just past a little pond of some sorts.

Walking up to the nearest train at the plant, I could hear voices. I set my stuff in the shadows of the train cart before jumping in myself. I was only hoping that nobody was going to see me in the train cart. Footsteps came closer and my body stiffened.

"When does this train leave for Westchester again?" One guy asked the other.

"In a few minutes actually." I smiled. I picked the right train. All of a sudden, the train jolted as though it was about to leave the station. I laid back in the train, using my backpack as a pillow. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, not worrying what would happen once the train pulled into Westchester in the morning.

* * *

I woke up to wind rushing past my face and the sun piercing through my eyelids. I jolted awake. It was sunny outside, meaning the train was probably close to where it needed to be. I grabbed my stuff and looked out at the scenery whizzing by me. Nerves flew through every sensory in my body and my stomach was doing flips. I cleared all thoughts from my mind and jumped for it. The ground came rushing to meet me, my arm hitting the ground first. I rolled for a little before coming to a stop. It went better than I had expected. My arm stung a bit, but other than that, only a few cuts and bruises.

I looked ahead of me and I could see buildings in the distance, not too far away.

"Must be New York City..." I thought out loud. I sighed. I pulled the handle of my suitcase up and started walking. As I started walking, I realized that Frank, Joe and Cypress would probably be up by now. Too bad for them. I was long gone.

* * *

Joe's P.O.V.

I was up before anyone else, around six or seven in the morning. It was summer, so there was really no need to be up early, but I didn't pay much mind to it. I walked across the hallway to my younger sister Sami's room and opened the door. I rubbed my eyes and yawned a bit.

"Sami, time to get up," I said out of habit. When there wasn't an answer, I panicked a bit. I looked at her bed, but she wasn't there. Her teal bed sheets were thrown aside, her pillow lying on the floor. Her closet door was wide open and her computer was gone, along with her suitcase, backpack and sketchpad. I threw her bed sheets everywhere, looking for a note. Nothing. I rummaged through her drawers and closet trying to find some secret hint on where she went. Nothing.

I ran across the hallway to Frank's room and shook him awake. He rubbed his eyes.

"What is it?" He yawned.

"Sami's gone," I said.

"No she's not, she's probably just downstairs." he said, trying to calm me down.

"No, she left. Her suitcase, backpack, computer and sketchpad are gone." I said hastily. Frank shot up in his bed, a look of worry in his eyes. I knew what he was thinking. How were we going to break this to Cypress. His eyes widened, his face turning sheet white.

"Joe, it's not a matter of how we're going to break it to Cypress, it's how we're going to break it to mom and dad." He stuttered. I knew he was right. Cypress would be devastated, but mom and dad would be furious for letting our youngest sister get away. Oh god, she was out there in the world filled with our dad's enemies. She was out there alone in a dangerous world. Oh god. Dad was going to kill us.


	3. Captured?

Sami's P.O.V.

I had been wandering the streets forever, and I really wanted to sleep, but I knew it wasn't safe to just lay down somewhere and get some shut eye. Nope. Not happening. Not in New York City. I shut my eyes tightly and a picture of my room came into my mind. I shook my head and forced the image out of my mind. I couldn't believe what was happening. I was wanting to go home. But I couldn't. I didn't want to. I left there. I wasn't going to allow myself to think about my old house, my old room, my old feelings, my old family.

I rubbed my face and yawned. I really did want to sleep.

It was getting dark out and the streets, believe it or not, were actually starting to calm down. I turned down a street and looked around for a place I could safely rest for a little, when a shoulder landed on my hand. My being went rigid, and I wanted to turn around and whip the person over my shoulder, but I was stuck. Brute force wasn't going to help. Logic wasn't going to help either. I was a Hardy. A Hardy wandering the streets of New York. This wasn't going to end well.

"So, what are you doing out here wandering the streets alone?" A deep voice said. It didn't sound like the voice of the usual kidnapper. Not at all. It didn't intimidate me in the least bit. I stayed facing the other way and started to open my mouth.

"I, I w-w-was... I was, uh... Running to my friend's house." I turned around and motioned to my bag with my computer and everything in it. "She left her stuff at my house." I said.

"Well why don't we go back there and then we can go from there. Where does your friend live?" The boy asked. I could tell he was a boy, a teenager actually. I couldn't see him, but that didn't scare me. I somehow just knew I could trust him.

"Bayport, New Jersey..." I mumbled. I could feel the boy's glare. He was staring at me like I was insane.

"New Jersey?" He stifled a laugh. "You're in the wrong state." I looked at him.

I started to walk away, shoving past him, but he grabbed my arm and turned me around. I saw a dark blue pair of eyes. They weren't the normal blue color that Joe's eyes were. They were so dark they looked nearly black, but on his left iris, he had a little spot of a light blue. I was suddenly intimidated by him. His frame was much taller than both Frank and Joe's. I could tell that his muscles were relaxed, but I could tell he was incredibly strong. I could feel his hands on my arm even after he let go. It was weird. I had never had that feeling before, except for when Joe had caught me from falling off a building when Catore pushed me off, bound hand and foot. I was terrified. And even after Joe caught me, I could feel his hands wrapped around my body.

"Uh, would you need anything from me?" I asked. He gave me a look that said more than everything else he had said-it said that I was too nice.

"Ha, Stiff. I don't need anything from you." He said.

"But then why did you come up to me in the first place?" I snapped. He sarcastically rubbed his chin as though in deep thought.

"Huh. Not bad." He stuck out his hand. I took it and he dragged me along behind him until we reached the same train tracks I had jumped from earlier that day.

"What are we doing here?"

"Taking you to your friend's house to drop that stuff off. Then you're coming with me." He said, pulling me closer to the train tracks with him.

"And who exactly is 'me'?" I asked.

"Four," he said, dropping my hand. I could hear a train coming. If this guy thought I was going to jump on a moving train, he was crazy. The train's headlight came into view. "Get ready to jump!" He yelled at me.

"What?!" I shrieked. But my voice was drowned out by the blowing of a whistle. I started running along side with the train, following Four. He jumped on to the train and stuck a hand out for m to grab. I gave him a look of distress at the fact of jumping on a moving train, but shook my head as I locked hands with him, allowing him to pull me up into the train with him. He smiled at me as he steadied me, throwing his hands around me and pulling me into the cart.

Half disgusted, I shoved him off of me, but the other half of me wanted him there with his arms around me. I blushed a bit, hoping it wasn't visible thanks to it being dark.

"It takes a while to get to Bayport from here." I said truthfully. "Might want to settle down and shut your eyes for a bit."

"Well, I think I will." Four said, leaning against a crate. He sighed. "This feels normal."

"What's normal?"

"Jumping on a train." he smiled.

"Nothing about that is normal."

"It is for a Dauntless."

"A what?"

"And a Stiff like you wouldn't ever be used to it." He yawned.

"Stiff? Dauntless? What?" I repeated like a confused parrot.

"I'll explain later. Not now..." Four said, closing his eyes and letting himself drift off to sleep.

"Geez... Doesn't know what a good first impression is, does he?" I mumbled to myself. I sat down next to him, leaning away from his face. I sighed. He was pretty nice for doing this. But I didn't know him. How could I be sure that he wasn't just another one of my dad's enemies come to kidnap me? I shrugged off the feeling as I let myself wander into the land of dreams.

* * *

I woke up to Four shaking me around. I swatted my arms around, trying to get him off me. When my eyes finally did open, I saw his face, a look of distress plastered on it. He patted my cheek a little bit to try and wake me up more. I poked his stomach and slung my backpack over my shoulder.

"You don't need to slap me to wake me up." I said, closing my eyes again, not remembering that I was on a train.

"You've gotta wake up. We're pulling into Bayport, and we gotta jump off before they pull in or we'll be caught." he said frantically. I sighed.

"You don't get it. If I showed up on a train with some random stranger, I wouldn't be in trouble. You would be arrested and fined a whole lot of money. Trust me. I'm not afraid of pulling in and getting caught. I'm afraid of pulling in and being forced to go back." I said.

"What?" He looked at me. I gulped. Oh great. I slipped up. That's just gonna brighten my day. Whatever. "Nevermind. We have to jump."

"Easy for you to say!" I yelled, smiling as I hurtled off the train. I rolled onto the soft New Jersey grass and stood up, completely unfazed, to see Four standing right behind me. He laughed a bit.

"You'd make a pretty good Dauntless." He smiled. "You'll have to meet everyone."

I rolled my eyes.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. Daunltess... Everyone... Sounds about as foreign to me as it would to you if I started rattling off random names and terms like Hardy, PI, Con Riley, Ezra..." I smirked. I ran ahead of him towards my house. I told myself I would never come back. I guess I was wrong.


	4. Why Couldn't It Be Easier?

Frank's P.O.V.

I wasn't really eager to tell dad the news about how Sami ran away. I knew he would be extremely upset with us. We still hadn't told Cypress, and it's been almost a day. We told her yesterday that she went to a friend's house for a sleepover. But if she doesn't come back today, she will be really mad and depressed, I just know it. I can't picture her brilliantly green eyes shedding the tears I wished never to see come from her eyes again. She'd cried enough, and she was only 17. Joe and I were visiting for a little bit. Callie and I were living together, and Joe had proposed to Vanessa. They were going to be getting their own apartment together soon I'd bet. Joe and I had moved out of the house quite a few years ago. So our days of being kidnapped were over. But for Sami and Cypress, they still had a few years to go. And I have to say, I was worried. One of them ran away, and they weren't going to be able to survive long.

I sighed as Cypress came downstairs in her pajamas. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Where's Sami?" She asked groggily, still waking up.

"Well, we have to tell you something. She-" the doorbell rang, cutting me off. Dangit. It was probably dad. He was going to pummel me. "She ran away," I said hastily before hurrying towards the front door. I let out a heavy sigh as I unlocked it. I could hear Cypress muttering to herself that it wasn't true from down the hall. I cracked oped the door and saw not my dad, but Sami's backpack. Everything in it. But no Sami. I shut my eyes and tried not to yell at myself. It was all my fault. I set a bad example when she was younger. I had tried to run away, but it didn't last more than a few hours. I guess she remembered and learned from the flaws of my plan and took advantage of her window of opportunity with dad not around.

"J-j-joe... Cy-cypress... Come here... There's a package for us all..." I choked. Joe came running in from the kitchen. He took one look at the bag at our door and crumpled to the ground.

"She's gone."

* * *

Sami's P.O.V.

I couldn't believe that I just dropped off my backpack at my house. I had run up to the door and set down my backpack and ring the doorbell. After I did, I ran back towards Four and we ran down the street as fast as we could away form my house. I didn't tell him it was my house. I just said I was going to drop it off at the door and ring the doorbell and then we could go. As we ran down the street, I felt adrenaline coursing through my body. I felt like I was completely betraying my family's trust. And I was. It felt good.

We ran around the corner towards the park. I never thought to consider that all Frank and Joe's friends, let alone mine, would be there. As the thought came into my mind, I skidded to a stop.

"FOUR!" I yelled after him. He turned around abruptly and ran back towards me.

"What's wrong?"

"We can't go through here... People will see me..." I said, keeping my voice low.

"Afraid of a few people seeing you, Stiff?" He sighed. "You've gotta get used to that."

"I'm not a Stiff! Stop calling me that!"

"You sure act like one. You did chose Dauntless, right?"

"I don't know! What are you talking about!"

"Your faction."

"Faction?"

Four groaned. "Did you take your aptitude test?"

"Yes...?" I replied, confused.

"And did you chose your new faction?"

"New faction?"

"Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, Erudite. Selflessness, Peace, Truth, Courage, or Brains?"

"Courage." I said confidently.

"Dauntless. I can tell you now that you were born into Abnegation."

"Selflessness?"

"Yes, surprisingly enough."

"Ugh. You are impossible."

"No, it's called you don't live where it's rough all over."

"You shut up. You wouldn't know rough if it kidnapped you and took you away from everything you loved." I snapped. I couldn't help it. I knew he didn't know what tough was. Nobody knew what tough was until they tried being a Hardy for a day. Nobody knew what tough was. Or what fear was. Only a Hardy would know.

"Sure. I don't know what rough is. I doubt you know the least bit about it." he scoffed, crossing his arms.

"You wouldn't know what rough is. You wouldn't know what tough is. You wouldn't know what fear is. None of you or your stupid Dauntless faction would know." I mumbled.

"Oh. I wouldn't know fear? Imagine knowing that every time I try and get to my bed, I have to jump off a moving train onto a rooftop, and then jump off the rooftop not knowing whether or not there really is something there to catch me."

"Imagine the fear of never seeing your older brother again!"

"Imagine the fear of having to shoot a gun just to pass a test."

"Imagine having to pull the trigger of a gun on your own sister!"

"Imagine having to slide down from a building to a marsh in nothing but a velvet sling on a cable."

"Imagine being microchipped like an animal without anesthetics. Imagine having a gun held to your head as your brother panics to find you before you die. Imagine having to trust some drunk idiot trying to shoot a little glass off your head. Imagine having to fear walking out of your house. Imagine having to fear school because your afraid of being made fun of! Imagine never wanting to live again. Imagine what it's like to be kidnapped all because of something your dad did to someone years before! Imagine being shot four times without mercy!" I yelled. I couldn't contain myself. My legs were shaking and my hands were balled up into fists. I clenched my teeth to try and prevent myself from crying, but it didn't work. I just crumpled on to him. I didn't care if he didn't catch me. I wouldn't care if I just fell to the floor. I just needed to cry. I wasn't a wimp. But if anyone went through what I had, they would want to do more than just cry.

"Hey, hey..." Four said in a calming voice. "It's alright. I swear... It'll be okay." I wiped my eyes and stood up. He wiped a single tear from my face. I don't think he knew how to handle an emotionally unstable 16 year old girl.

"Sure it will."

"Let me take you back to Dauntless faction. I think you'll feel more at home. The second stage is just about to start. You'll be able to meet everyone in time and training will begin. I will explain everything once we get there. I promise."


	5. Happy To Be Dauntless?

Tris's P.O.V.

I was anxious for Four to get back to the compound. He had said that he had been going to visit a place that wasn't torn apart like our society. I guess that was what the gate was keeping us from seeing. It was only just about to be the beginning of stage two for the initiates. I was curious to see if he came back with anyone new. When I heard silence fall over the Pit, I knew Four must've gotten back. I raced towards him, hoping that everything was alright. I had a smile plastered across my face, because at first, I was happy to see him, but it faded as I actually saw him.

He was walking briskly across the room, the wrist of some unknown, never seen before girl, clenched in his hand. She was staggering along behind him, her head hung low. She lifted her head for mere seconds, and her eyes locked with mine. The girl stopped walking. I didn't know why, but I couldn't move my eyes from hers. It was like she was trying to tell me something. Despite the fact that Four was dragging her across the Pit, I knew that this girl wasn't going to move. I could hear Four grumble disapprovingly as he walked back towards the girl. When his eyes shifted from her to what she was looking at, which happened to be me, he sighed. He motioned me to follow them to where ever he was taking this girl.

As we walked the dark corridors of the Dauntless compound, I could hear Four whispering something to her. I'm sure he was just telling her it was going to be alright and that there was nothing to be afraid of. But then again, this was Dauntless, and she was probably an initiate. So what was there not to fear?

"Four?" I asked in a hushed tone. He didn't respond, but I kept going anyway. "What is this about? Why is there some stranger girl in the compound? Why did you do this?" questions flew out of my mouth. I couldn't stop them.

"I will tell you in a moment. Just please let me get to where we are going." He said sternly. I set my face in a look of slight annoyance that he couldn't see because he was facing the other way. I crossed my arms and sighed. Why was this girl here? What was so important about her that Four just HAD to bring her back with him?

* * *

Sami's P.O.V.

When I saw that girl, I somehow knew that I had seen her before. I just knew it. And we both looked at each other in a way as though we did know each other.

Four had been dragging me behind him, and I could say his grip was hard around my wrist, but I really didn't mind. I've had worse. It felt like we had been walking forever, but I knew we probably hadn't. I knew it always felt that way when you were somewhere knew and were kind of scared of it. Finally, Four stops in front of a door and turns towards me and the other girl. In that instant, I felt like I KNEW a lot of things. But then again, I probably didn't.

"Four, who is this girl?" she asked.

"In a minute." he said, opening the door. We walked into a place that was lined with bunk beds. Looking around, I couldn't see anyone, which was good, because the first minute I could, I was going to start crying. At least I felt that way. Four walked me over to one of the beds that didn't have any sheets on it. He sat me down and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me around a bit. I slapped his hands off me.

"Stop it Four... You're not helping." I snapped. He stood up and turned to the unidentified girl standing close behind him.

"This-" he said, nodding towards me. "-is-"

"Sami," I cut in. "My name is Sami." I stuck my tongue out at Four. "I can introduce myself, thanks." The girl smiled.

"Sami, this is Tris." Four smiled.

"Hi," Tris said. I smiled at her, but I didn't return her greetings. I didn't really feel like talking to anyone, but I guess I had to at some point. I opened my mouth to speak, but Four cut me off, just like I had him.

"Now, you'll need to catch up on everything. Stage one is done. You need to learn everything everyone else did from stage one. Stage two starts tomorrow, so you will need to fight everyone in order to get your rankings in comparison with everyone else."

"Fight? What?" I said, confused.

"Fight. It's how we got rankings for stage one. Relax. It's not that bad..." Tris said anxiously.

"Oh, this is the greatest shit I've every had to deal with." I mumbled.

"Relax. Everything will be fine."

"Sure it will." I said, crossing my arms. "Everything will be fine after I fight, what? Eight other people?" Someone walked into the room. This person was a very broad-shouldered, and very broad in general, person. He had gentle brown eyes that reminded me of Frank. He had a large nose, and full lips. I looked at him and straightened my posture, hoping that he wouldn't think I was some weakling opponent.

"Oh, and I forgot to mention." Four said. "Only the top ten get to remain in the faction. The rest become factionless." I tilted my head. "You no longer have a home. You no longer are allowed to be with your family. You live on the streets."

"The streets?" I repeated. "Well, it's not that bad. It's better than being kidnapped."

"Why would you get kidnapped?" The unidentified figure said. I started to open my mouth to explain, but shook my head.

"It's complicated," I mumbled. "I'm Sami. I'm guessing you're another person that is going through all the stages?"

"Yes," he said lightly. "I'm Al."

"Hello Al. It's nice to meet you." I smiled a bit.

"Now, as I was saying." Four said. "You will need start stage one training right away. Just because you got here later doesn't give you any excuse to not be where everyone else is."

"Yeah, yeah. I understand. Can't we just do that now?" I asked. I was getting the slightest bit annoyed with Four repeatedly saying I needed to start as soon as possible.

"Uh, sure." He said. "Stage one is testing your physical ability, so we need to train you to become a fighter."

"Can we skip the training? And like, go straight to the fighting? I really don't want to take long."

"But you need experience with training before you fight. I know you do." Tris stuttered. I gave her a half sarcastic half serious unamused look.

"Tris, I hate to break it to you, but with my old family, it was either you fight your way out of your shitty kidnapper's life or you get shot dead." I said, keeping a completely serious straight face. "I think I can handle fighting."

"But you don't know Peter. Or Edward. Or Molly. They will pummel you." Al said, concerned.

"If she wants to go right into fighting, let her." Four mumbled. "Don't say we didn't warn you."

I bit my lip. Dangit. My first impressions suck. "I'm sorry I snapped." I hastily apologized. "I'm just... Just kinda... Freaked out... I guess to be away from my family like this. I was essentially kidnapped, but I wasn't. Because I let you. It wasn't by force that I came here. It was on my own free conscience. I guess that's just an abnormally irrational thought for my mind, being a Hardy and all." I sighed. Tris's face lit up at the mention of my last name.

"Did you say Hardy?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yes, why?"

"Because," she said, grabbing something off the bunk adjacent to mine. "He's only the biggest name of Erudite there is." She thrust a newspaper into my lap. I didn't even read it. I just stared at it.

Dad had said something about having cases recently that we weren't allowed to interfere with AT ALL. And we knew nothing of them. Ever. He was rarely home anymore. So we never actually got the chance to ask him how his cases were going. And here he is, in the newspaper-no, the front page of the the newspaper-of some utterly insane dystopian society I never knew about. This is where he's been going. These were the cases that were so top secret.

"Wh-when was this newspaper p-printed?" I stuttered.

"Just today. Why?" Al said.

"Oh... Um... No reason. None at all..."


	6. It's On

Sami's P.O.V.

Four led Tris and I into a room. Looking around, I could see that the walls were bare rock, and what looked like an arena of some sorts. I glanced at Tris and gave her a look of confusion. She sighed and looked up at Four. He cleared his throat and started speaking.

"Now, this is where you're going to be fighting everyone. Fair warning, you will have to fight everyone for your rank among the others. So don't be surprised if you aren't feeling to well after all this is over. You must get all this done today because stage two starts tomorrow." He said, shifting his gaze to me. "Now, I'm going to go and get the other initiates. You two get to stay here. I guess you could do whatever it is girls do to 'get to know' each other." He smiled a bit and walked out of the room.

I turned to Tris and grinned at her.

"So..." I said awkwardly sitting down on the floor. "How are you?"

"Fine. And you?"

"Brilliant!" I exclaimed in my overly fake British accent. She laughed a bit.

"So, um... You mentioned something about your dad being Fenton? Fenton Hardy?" Tris asked.

My body went stiff. I really didn't like talking about dad because when I talked about dad, it somehow got off track to kidnapping and all that stuff. And I didn't want to talk about that.

"Uh, yeah..." I said hastily. "That's my Dad. The Fenton Hardy."

"So what does your dad do?" She asked. "I mean, he's not here all the time."

"Uh... Um, well... Any of the time he isn't here he's probably... Um..." I stuttered. I didn't want to say it. "He's probably running around chasing some idiot bad person that's kidnapped me, Cypress, Frank or Joe." I said quickly. I sighed. That was over with. I could only hope she could understand it.

"What was that?"

"Ugh..." I sighed. "My dad is a PI. A private investigator. So he solves cases in the US that he's willing to take. Now, when my dad puts these people in jail for what they did, the swear revenge on my father. And then they somehow break out of jail and hunt me or my three older siblings down." I explained. I took a deep breath. "They kidnap us and they torture us. All just for revenge on my dad." I choked. I hated talking about all this, let alone to someone that wasn't Joe. Even telling Cypress or Frank was a struggle.

Tris gave me a sympathetic look. I couldn't tell if it were real or fake. But I knew I didn't want her sympathy.

"Tris, don't give me that look. I don't need your sympathy." I said.

"Oh... I was just trying to imagine what that would be like." She said. "And all because my dad was doing the right thing."

"Ah, you get used to it because you realize that at least one of your family members is looking for you. Now usually, it's Frank or Joe, but because they've moved out, it's just me and Cypress. But I still have to trust that she'll find me."

"So, I could bet you're pretty selfless, as well as all your siblings." She said, bringing her legs into her chest.

"Oh, well... I mean, I guess." I mumbled as I remembered all the times Cypress or Frank or Joe had saved me. "I mean, I remember one time, Cypress and I got kidnapped when we were younger, and I took a bullet for her and so she could escape. In return she went home to Frank and Joe and told them where we were."

"You've gotten shot?" Tris asked in astonishment.

"Hm? Yeah, I have." I said. I shrugged my shoulders. "I mean, heck, everyone of us has gotten shot or stabbed at some point."

"Wow. I never would have thought."

"Well, nobody ever thinks of what it's like to be a Hardy. I guess they don't know what it's like to fear leaving your own house." I sighed. "That's why I hesitated running away. But if I hadn't run away, I wouldn't know you, or Four. And then where would I be?"

Tris smiled. "I dunno, Sam. I dunno."

Four came back soon with a group of eight other people. I sighed. Four was right. I was going to be tired. A lot of them were taller, and more muscular, than I was, which kind of scared me. Al was amongst the group of people. He seemed too nice to beat anybody up. But I'm sure he would if he had to.

"Now," Four said. "As I explained on the way here, there is a new initiate who needs ranking. We'll go in order from bottom to top so as not to overwhelm her."

"Alright," I said, standing up.

"So, Myra, you're up." Four said. I thought about that for a minute. This girl Myra was at the bottom of the rankings. That actually surprised me. We walked to the center of the room to the arena and I saw someone come in another door. It was an unfamiliar face. It was pierced all over, which made me sick to my stomach. Tattoos like the ones I had noticed on Tris's collarbone were okay. That's just a tattoo. But piercing a that leave holes in your body that aren't in your ears, that just disgusted me.

"Who's that?" I asked Myra as we met up in the middle.

"Eric. Don't even pay attention to him."

"So, um… How does this work? When do we start?"

"Now." the Eric guy said from where he was, leaning up against the wall. I turned my head to him and glared. I looked back at Myra and stared at her. How was this going to work?

"Well?" Eric said, crossing his arms. I rolled my eyes, swinging my foot up to hit her jaw. It made contact with her jaw, knocking her down. She lay there, motionless. I gasped, clamping my hand over my mouth in shock. I didn't mean to do that. Eric slowly clapped his hands together. I glared at him. I don't know why he'd applaud me for that.

"Al," Four said.

After the fight with Myra, things flew by. That is, until I had to fight a boy names Peter. He was really tall, which scared me. How was I going to beat him?

"Peter, it's your go." Four said. I stood in the arena and sighed. This was going to be a while.

* * *

Heads up you guys! Next chapter will go back to Bayport with Frank, Joe and Cyp. Kay? Chapter 8 will be back at Dauntless to check in on Sami's fights.


	7. Back at Home

Cypress's P.O.V.

When Frank and Joe told me that Sami had run away, I didnt believe it at first. I didn't want to believe that she had run away. I knew she wouldn't do it just as a joke. No one would ever run away as a joke. But why she ran away was my question.

It had been nearly two days, and there wasn't a single sign of her. We were all beginning to worry. Dad wasn't at home at the moment, which was the other issue. If dad wasn't home, we would get nowhere. He was supposed to get home later that night, but we never knew anymore. We'd already been to the police station twice to check prison records to make sure that there wasn't anyone who would've kidnapped her that we knew of. Then again, it wouldn't be kidnap if she had taken her stuff, but then dropped it bak off.

Joe invaded my thoughts with another theory of why or how she left. "So maybe she was running away, but then someone snatched her up and dropped off her bag here so that she wouldn't be found thanks to modern technology of her computer."

"It's completely possible, but you never know. Maybe she just ran away and decided that she'd have a new start. Not keep anything from here." Frank suggested.

"Ugh... Will you guys please stop talking about this? Because now I have to go to school with this on my plate. It'll be hard enough not to burst out crying every period." I scoffed. Frank's eyes shifted to mine. He gave me a look of sadness. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Well, just thinking." Frank said. "Does anyone know where dad is going on his trips?"

"No," Joe said.

"No, we don't" I mumbled.

"What if we followed him?" Frank smiled.

"Frank," Joe interrupted. "Usually, I go right along with your plan of following dad. And usually they work. But I don't know if it's the right thing to do on this one if we want to find Sami."

"Joe," I said. "It's the only choice we have. If we don't follow dad, we may never get to see her again." I choked. "And I know none of us would want to live with that, right?"

Frank and Joe both shook their heads. I sighed.

"We're going to find her." Frank said, his voice full of determination. "That's a promise I make to you Cypress."

* * *

Later that night, we all sat around the dinner table. Even dad sat with us. I glanced at Joe. He was just stabbing at his food, not putting any of it in his mouth. He still had a plateful of chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans to eat, and he was just sitting there, poking at it like a five year old. I understood that he was upset that Sami ran away, but he had to eat something at some point.

"Joe, dear, why so upset." Mom asked. She knew why. We all did. We all knew because we all felt the same way.

"Mom, you know why..." Joe said quietly, not even looking up. I shook my head.

"We just really want to find Sami. She ran away. I don't even know why she would..." I said.

"We'd all like to know that." Dad said, setting down his glass of water. "But we won't ever know. I filed a missing persons report with the station and nothing has turned up."

"How would you know we'll never now?" Frank inquired.

"Frank, it's been nearly two days. Nothing has shown up at the station. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but face it, she's gone." he snapped.

"But how do you specifically know that she's gone?" With every question Frank asked, I could feel the hot tears building up in my eyes.

"Because I know Frank. I've dealt with many missing persons cases-"

"And so have Joe and I. We know how it works. You've even told us yourself that you always want to stay alert for signs of where they might be and -"

"But Frank, you don't understand. This is different. If she were still alive or willing to come home, she wouldn't be missing. Someone would've noticed something. Frank, she is a Hardy. If something was found out about her, we'd know."

"Yes, I know. But I'm just saying that we shouldn't give up hope."

"Frank, you aren't listening! She isn't-"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled. Tears were streaming down my face like a river. I wiped my eyes with my balled up fists and coughed a little bit. "Just shut up! Both of you! I can't stand it! Can we all just agree that she is out there somewhere?"

"But Cypress sweetheart, she's not out there, that's the thing. She's probably dead." Dad said in a soft tone.

"No, dad. You're wrong. I know she's out there. And until you can admit that, I'm not talking to you." I crossed my arms and slumped backwards in my chair. "Mom, may I be excused?" I asked. She nodded.

I picked up my plate that was half full of food and set it on the kitchen counter. I walked briskly up the stairs and slammed my bedroom door shut. I didn't want to believe dad, but somewhere in my mind, I thought that he was right.


	8. The Fight Is On

Tris's P.O.V.

When Four told Peter to go to the arena to fight Sami, I could see Sami's figure stiffen. She clenched her jaw tightly shut and exhaled a deep breath. She stared Peter straight in the face. I could tell that Sami was determined to win her fight against him, but I could also tell that she was a nervous wreck. Peter was much bigger than her. He towered over Sami, nearly three times the size of Sami's.

"Are you ready to get beat, wimp?" Peter sneered. Sami brushed a loose curl out of her face.

"Who are you calling a wimp?" Sami snapped. Peter threw a punch at her face, landing his fist on Sami's cheek bone.

"You." Sami stumbled back a little bit. Sami swung her leg around to hit Peter's head, but he grabbed her ankle and twisted it around. Sami screamed. She fell to the ground with a thud.

"Admit it, you're a wimp." Peter laughed, twisting Sami's leg even farther. She let out a scream, thrashing around trying to escape his grasp.

"No! I'm not a wimp!" Sami yelled. She took her free leg and kicked it into Peter's unprotected stomach. Peter dropped Sami's leg, clutching his stomach and lying on the ground. Sami pulled herself to her feet and kicked him again, over and over, occasionally throwing a punch at his face. I saw Peter punch Sami back, landing the punch right in her nose, sending her reeling back. But he made no move to get up. He just lay there. Sami stood up, trying not to put any pressure on her foot. She pinned Peter down and continued to slug him.

Out of nowhere, Four came rushing in, pulling Sami off of Peter. Sami thrashed around in Four's grasp, rage burning in her eyes.

"I am not a wimp! Hardy's aren't wimps!" Sami yelled.

"Sami, relax." Four said in a calm voice. "It's alright..."

Eric unfolded his arms and pulled away from his perch leaning against the wall. "Did she just say, Hardy?" Sami stopped squirming in Four's arms. Her eyes widened.

"What? Uh... Haha, uh no... I said, uh... Carthy's. Carthy's, as is Samantha Carthy." Sami said hastily.

"No," Eric said sternly, walking over towards Sami. "You said Hardy. Don't deny it."

"Fine, I said Hardy. So what?" Sami scoffed.

"You're related to the Erudite representative."

"And?"

Eric cleared his throat. "Nothing. I just wouldn't have thought that Erudite could stoop so low."

"What do you have against my dad?!" Sami snapped, shaking loose from Four's grasp.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Eric said, turning away from her. "Continue fighting."

"That was it. I fought everyone." Sami said.

I stared at her. No one ever stood up to Eric like that. No one ever confronted him in such a way. I was surprised that he didn't pull his gun out of it's holster right then and shoot her in between her eyes.

"Well then," Eric turned around and yanked his gun out of his holster, pointing it right at her forehead. "Why don't you go to the shooting range? Practice your aim?"

"P-p-p-please don't sh-shoot..." Sami stuttered. She clamped her eyes shut. I didn't know what she was thinking, but she looked terrified. And then I remembered. Her dad, the kidnap, and she'd gotten shot. She had every right to be afraid of guns. He clenched her fists, and I could've sworn that I saw the faintest trace of a tear roll down her cheek.

"Why? Scared of a loaded gun?" Eric teased. Sami just stood there. "Are you?"

"Yes!" She blurted. "I have every right to be afraid of guns!" She yelled. "You don't know the first thing of what-" Eric clicked the bullet into place, cutting her off. She stiffened.

"Man up," he scoffed, moving the gun down away from her forehead. "Or leave." He walked away, leaving everyone in the room staring at Sami. I could only look at her sympathetically. She crumpled to the ground. Four knelt down beside her and put his hand on her back.

"Sami, it's alright. Everything-"

"No Four! You wouldn't even begin to understand that it's not all okay! Cypress... And Frank... And Joe. They're all probably having a heart attack! God! You people don't get it." She yelled. Peter snickered.

"Aww. Did you hear that? We don't know the least of it. You want to go home, Stiff?" He mocked.

"You shut up Peter! You just fucking shut up! I don't want to deal with your shit! If you even walked in my shoes, you'd fall on the first step! Calm. The. Fuck. Down." Sami said. With that, she stood up and stormed out without another word.

So uh, Chapter 9 will be up soon.


	9. Why Can't The Understand?

Sami's P.O.V.

'They will never understand what it's like.' I told myself, over and over in my head. I had gone back to the room that I believed to be the shooting range that Eric mentioned. There were tables, all of which housing a gun and bullets. I just stared at them. I knew I had to shoot one. Just to prove to myself that I could do it and that I wasn't a complete wimp.

I walked over to one of the tables and slowly wrapped my hand around the gun. I shivered. Even just touching one sent a chill down my spine. I lifted it off the table, reaching down with my other hand and grabbing a bullet. I slid the bullet swiftly into the gun, clicking it into place.

This was it. The moment of truth. I held the gun to the target, trying to keep my hands still. They just kept shaking every time I tried to steady my grip. My eyes locked with the target. But the target disappeared and was replaced by something-no, someone- else. It was replaced by Joe.

~~~Flashback~~~

"You will shoot him, or I kill you all." The man yelled into my ear. I jumped at the sudden noise, losing my grip on the gun and dropping it onto the floor. The man backhanded me. "What the hell is wrong with you? Dropping your gun! Pick it up! And shoot him for goodness sake!"

I knelt down to the ground and reached a shaky hand out for the gun. Grabbing it, I stood upright. I could feel the blood dripping from my lip and mouth from where I'd been hit and beaten. I didn't want to shoot Joe. But I had to.

Tightening my grip on the gun, I took in a breath and looked one last time at Joe's brilliantly blue eyes. I placed my index finger on the trigger and concentrated on my aim. I told myself I wouldn't shoot near his head or heart. I was about to pull the trigger when the man shoved my shoulder, sending me off balance.

"Shoot!" He yelled. The gun fired, my aim nowhere close to where I wanted it to be. A blood curling scream filled the air. Joe threw his head back and slumped to the ground.

"Joe!" I yelled. The man grabbed my shoulder.

"He's fine." I stiffened. Whipping around and pointing the gun at the man, I clicked the second bullet into place.

"You made me shoot him. He could be dead. I could've just shot my brother dead, and your saying that he's fine?!" I pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight through his chest. Anger coursed through my body. "Nothing is fine." I said angrily.

~~~End Flashback~~~

I cleared my head of the horrible memory, trying not to see the target as Joe. Just as I was about to pull the trigger, a door opened. I turned around, and there was Four. He stared at me, almost as though waiting for me to shoot the gun. I sighed.

Lifting my gun back up to the target, I lined it up with the middle, closed my eyes tight and pulled the trigger. The loud noise banged on the walls of the room, echoing in my ears.

As the noise ended, I could hear Four's footsteps coming towards me. I opened my eyes a saw him standing in front of me. He grabbed my shoulders

"Where did you learn to shoot like that?" He asked. He almost seemed excited that I could shoot a gun. It obviously went close to the target or else he wouldn't be saying anything.

"I-I... I uh..." I awkwardly stuttered. "Can we not talk about that?" I asked quietly.

"I want to know," he demanded. He had a tone in his voice that reminded me of so many of my kidnappers. I almost caught myself trying to get away from him.

"Fine," I sighed. "Being kidnapped. That's how I've learned. Being kidnapped."

"What?" He asked, surprised.

"Yes. Being kidnapped. On more than one occasion, I've had to actually shoot one of my family members. And the first time I did it, the guy who kidnapped me showed me how. And then I had to fire a bullet-" I was trying not to cry, choking on my words. "A bullet straight at my older brother. I nearly killed him. It went straight through his shoulder. Real close to his heart. That was when I was 10..."

"Oh... Wow. Um, I uh... I didn't mean it like that. I-I...I'm sorry." He stuttered. His face portrayed sympathy and sadness. I didn't want Four to feel bad for me. I mean, it was different having someone other than family caring for you, but I didn't want-or need-his sympathy.

"Four, really. It's okay." I insisted.

"It wasn't meant to seem so mean," he said.

"Four! Quit your rambling I said it was fine!" I snapped. He abruptly stopped talking. I bit the inside of my cheek nervously. "I-I... I'm sorry Four."

"No it's alright. I shouldn't have asked." He said. Clearing his throat, he dropped his hands from my shoulders. "It's time for dinner. Are you coming?"

Joe's P.O.V.

We had been planning on following dad for ages. Today was the day-or rather night-that we did. Dad was leaving early in the morning, so we would follow him. Frank and I were in the trunk of our dad's car, Cypress was hidden underneath the backseat so that when dad got out of the car and left, she could get us out. I had butterflies in my stomach at the thought of finding Sami. I really wanted to see her, and I could only hope that she was okay.

"Frank," I whispered. "I hope this will work."

"I'm sure it will relax." I felt his hand grab mine and squeeze it. I squeezed it back. We were both nervous, and we knew it.

Suddenly, a noise came from outside the car. Dad was getting into the car. I sighed. I hoped this worked.

* * *

I squinted my eyes as light came into the trunk of the car. I must've fallen asleep. I saw Cypress's face once the light became less bright. She stuck her hand out for me.

"Come on. We gotta go. And hurry. Dad only just briefly left. His stuff is still in the car." She said as she yanked me out of the trunk. Oh wow, it felt good to stretch my legs. Frank and I had been sandwiched into the trunk for both of us to fit. Cypress pulled him out and she smiled at us. "One step closer."

"Yep. One step closer to finding Sami." I said. I just knew that we would find her here. I felt it in my gut. I could hear something in the distance, and it almost sounded like a train, but I wasn't so sure. "Do you guys hear that?" I asked.

Frank nodded. "Yeah, I do. What is it?"

"It's a train guys. Train." Cypress mocked. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever. We should wait here for it to stop. See where it takes us." I suggested.

"No, I thought we would just run along beside it until we dropped dead of exhaustion." Cypress said sarcastically.

"Why are you-" Cypress cut me off.

"Don't even ask. I'm not gonna answer that." She said. Frank started to open his mouth, but Cypress gave him a look that told him otherwise.

I could hear the train getting closer, but it wasn't slowing down. That scared me. How were we supposed to get on a train if it wasn't slowing down. Then it hit me. We would have to jump. Jumping onto the train was the only option. I shook my head. It would slow down. It would just come to a screeching halt. But as the train came into sight, I could tell it wasn't going to slow down.

"Guys, we have to jump."

"What?" Frank asked.

"We have to jump on the train. It's not going to stop for us." I said.

"Are you crazy?" Cypress asked.

"No crazier than you Cyp," I said as the train got closer. "Get ready to jump!"

The train was zipping past us, leaving us behind. I took the initiative to run after it, seeing that Cypress and Frank were just going to stand there and stare at it. I ran along side it for ages and finally worked up the nerves to jump onto the train. I launched my body at the train, landing with a thud in the train car. I stuck out a hand for Cypress, who jumped on with ease because of her long legs, and Frank just grabbed my hand and pulled himself in. I sighed.

"Guessing we're going to have to jump off too," Frank said. I nodded. I was only slightly phased by that. We all sat down on the floor of the train car.

"So how are we going to find her?" I asked.

"Is there anyone else on the train? Maybe where they jump off will be where she is." Frank suggested. I looked around. No one else was in that car. We'd have to check other cars. I stood up. "Where are you going?" Frank asked, grabbing my wrist as I stood.

"To see if there is anyone else on this train." I said, walking towards the door. The minute I opened it, wind rushed to my face. I looked a little farther out and noticed we were about to be across from a rooftop. We could jump onto the rooftop. We'd have to. "Jump." I yelled over the wind behind my back.

As the roof neared us, I coiled up my legs, ready to jump. I could feel my heart pounding in my throat. Wind surrounded me as I felt my feet push from the train. Almost instantly, I felt my stomach lurch forward, and I felt weightless. It felt as though gravity had no effect on me at the given moment. I flailed my arms around, almost as though I was trying to fly.

The rooftop rushed to my meet my feet. As my feet pounded against the rooftop, I stumbled forward, a sharp pain shooting through my legs. I tumbled down to the ground, falling head over heels and rolling across the roof. As I regained my ability to see as the dizziness faded, I could see Frank hunched over the edge of the rooftop trying to pull something over the edge. Then I realized that that "thing" was Cypress. I scrambled up to my feet, staggering a little. I could say I wanted to vomit. It was the oddest thing I'd ever had to do.

I rushed over to Frank, grabbing one of Cypress's wrists. With a combined effort, we hauled Cypress over the edge of the roof. She shook in Frank's arms, her legs nearly buckling, her face a ghostly white.

"I'm never doing that again," she stuttered. Frank and I wrapped our arms around her, helping her walk across the rooftop. A cold wind whipped at us, chilling our fingers and noses.

"I hope we don't have to." I replied.

When we reached the end of the rooftop, there was only one option. To either stay up here or to jump down. There was a huge hole in the floor, so I figured there was something that was there to keep you from dying.

Suddenly, Cypress ran out from under our arms, jumping off the roof. She wasn't even screaming, which worried me. Frank yelled after her, and soon enough jumped as well. I knew I had to jump after them, and so I did.

The feeling I had from jumping onto the roof returned. My stomach lurched forward, gravity seeming to have no effect on me. The fall felt much longer than it was. Scenery whipped past me, but it felt like an eternity until I hit something. And I didn't hit solid ground. I something that was like a net.

I knew Cypress and Frank stood waiting for me off to the side, though I couldn't really see them. I guessed it was a net.

"A net-" Frank started. I interrupted him.

"A net, I know." I said.

What was around us was darkness. I couldn't see past my own hands, and even seeing my hands was a strain for my eyes. I got up off the net, waving my hands around a bit, trying to find my way. I heard an "oof" from one of us, and then a voice rang out.

"I found stairs!" Cypress yelled. Frank and I race towards her voice, soon feeling the invisible stairs under out feet. Now all we could do was follow these stairs until they lead us to light or brought us to Sami.


End file.
